A push to keep tax credit rolling

Schumer's measure would help continue infrastructure work

Eric Anderso, Times Union

By Eric Anderson

Published 7:10 pm, Monday, December 16, 2013

Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station during a press conference on expiring short-line railroad tax credit and his efforts to exten it so that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway can undertake needed improvements Dec. 16, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station...

The S&NC locomotive sits outside the station as Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station during a press conference on expiring short-line railroad tax credit and his efforts to exten it so that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway can undertake needed improvements Dec. 16, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

The S&NC locomotive sits outside the station as Senator Chuck...

The S&NC locomotive sits outside the station as Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station during a press conference on expiring short-line railroad tax credit and his efforts to exten it so that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway can undertake needed improvements Dec. 16, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

The S&NC locomotive sits outside the station as Senator Chuck...

Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station during a press conference on expiring short-line railroad tax credit and his efforts to exten it so that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway can undertake needed improvements Dec. 16, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station...

Cars from the S&NC Rail Co. sit outside the station as Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station during a press conference on expiring short-line railroad tax credit and his efforts to exten it so that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway can undertake needed improvements Dec. 16, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Cars from the S&NC Rail Co. sit outside the station as Senator...

Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station during a press conference on expiring short-line railroad tax credit and his efforts to exten it so that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway can undertake needed improvements Dec. 16, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station...

Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station during a press conference on expiring short-line railroad tax credit and his efforts to exten it so that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway can undertake needed improvements Dec. 16, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station...

The rolling offices of the S&NC Rail Co. sit outside the station as Senator Chuck Schumer spoke at the Saratoga Springs Train Station during a press conference on expiring short-line railroad tax credit and his efforts to exten it so that the Saratoga and North Creek Railway can undertake needed improvements Dec. 16, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

The rolling offices of the S&NC Rail Co. sit outside the station as...

A tax credit intended to help short-line railroads improve their tracks, signals and other infrastructure is due to expire at the end of the month, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer on Monday said he would push to extend it through the end of 2016.

"The health of our small businesses and local economies depends on infrastructure," he said during a news conference at the Saratoga Springs rail station Monday morning.

The Saratoga & North Creek Railway, which operates passenger and freight trains from the Saratoga Springs station to North Creek, is upgrading a line that continues from North Creek to former mines in Tahawus, Essex County, where it plans to haul rocks left over from mining operations to customers who would use it for aggregate used in construction and as a source of rare earth elements used by the technology industry.

The credits already have been worth about $300,000 to the railroad for the work it has done on the line from Saratoga Springs to North Creek, and it wants to use another $300,000 in credits as it continues to make improvements, including the freight-only section north to Tahawus.

The Saratoga & North Creek also would haul garnet from the Barton Mines, reducing the amount of truck traffic on local highways, Schumer said.

"These are the funds needed to keep the state's rail network in a state of good repair," said Scott Wigger, executive director of Railroads of New York, which represents the state's regional and short line railroads. "Passenger trains run over a lot of these tracks, too. Safety is a concern."

Schumer's measure, the Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act of 2013, would extend the tax credit that covers half the cost of infrastructure improvements up to a maximum of $3,500 per mile of track. Expanding the railroad's freight business, Schumer said, would give it a reliable source of revenue and allow it to create 15 full-time jobs.

Farther east, the credit also has helped the 36-mile Batten Kill Railroad, which carries feed and fertilizer.

"It's precious to us," said Bill Taber, the railroad's president and CEO, of the tax credit that was first enacted in 2004. "It's not a giveaway. We get a credit if we spend on the upkeep of the railroad."

He said the larger Delaware & Hudson Railway gave up the track because of "marginal track volume. We're successful and this helps keep us successful and viable."

The Saratoga & North Creek, a unit of Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings, has operated passenger trains for more than two years along another former Delaware & Hudson line, which runs beside the Hudson River to North Creek. This winter it will increase the frequency of its seasonal snow trains, which operate Friday, Saturday and Sunday, to two round trips each day.

In the warmer months, it runs multiple passenger trains daily. The trains connect with Amtrak's Ethan Allen and Adirondack services at Saratoga Springs, and railroad spokesman David Simpson said the company would eventually like to connect with Amtrak at Rensselaer as well. One challenge: congestion on the Canadian Pacific rail line from Saratoga Springs south, which has become a busy corridor for the movement of crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken oil fields to the Port of Albany.

Schumer said the railroad and tourism officials also are exploring shuttle service between the Thurman station and Lake George, a popular summertime destination for tourists.

The Saratoga & North Creek, which now carries 50,000 passengers a year, wants to double that figure to 100,000, Schumer said.